Ed Martin's Top 25 TV Programs of 2024 (Part Two)

Young Sheldon Georgie ampamp Mandy39s First Marriage CBS This year saw the end of Young Sheldon a smart show that never really received the critical support it deserved and the launch of its spinoff Georgie ampamp Mandy39s First Marriage pictured at top which via fulltime status or guest appearances continues the adventures of almost all of the characters from Sheldon except for Sheldon himself who is away at school and of course Sheldon Georgie and Missy39s dad George who passed away as Sheldon concluded Those guest appearances by Jim Parsons as adult Sheldon and Mayim Bialik as his wife Amy at the end of Sheldon were a stroke of genius by the way Georgie is a winner too The expertly written end of Sheldon chronicled how an average early90s workingclass family dealt with the sudden death of their husband and father and the grieving that followed Georgie to the credit of all involved continues to do the same Hats off to Montana Jordan the winning young actor who plays Georgie for his ingratiating performance as a goofy 19yearold who is learning what adulting is all about He39s a new husband and new father managing a new fulltime job while also dealing with unexpected jolts of grief following the loss of his dad Emily Osment as Mandy is pretty darn great too Dare I add that they make a sexy couple There aren39t many of those on broadcast TV these daysamp160amp160Doctor Who Disney The notsosecret sauce behind the longevity of Doctor Who still going strong after 61 years and numerous platforms across all media is that the title character can regenerate into a quotnewquot Doctor every so many years allowing for dramatic cast changes that make sense Insanely gifted writers such as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat who know how to advance a longrunning narrative while always honoring its past make the magic happen And then there are the actors who have played the Doctor often as someone quotnewquot younger older recently female and now gay as winningly portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa pictured above His Doctor didn39t exactly regenerate rather he quotbigeneratedquot from the Doctor played by David Tennant That Doctor isn39t involved in the current stories but isn39t it nice to know there are two of them out there911 911 Lone Star ABC and Fox respectively When both of Ryan Murphy39s redhot action shows premiered each delivering many disastermoviequality episodes throughout their seasons I couldn39t help but wonder quotHow do they do itquot Now with 911 in its seventh season and Lone Star in its fifth I can39t help but ask quotHow do they still do itquot The action is unparalleled but it39s the emotiondriven personal stories of their characters that really keep these shows going 911 has already been renewed for an eighth season on ABC but this sadly looks to be the last hurrah for Lone Star This franchise is too good to compromise Surely ABC will consider picking it up Or a streamer Why not produce additional episodes of Lone Star exclusively for Hulu If this really is the end is it possible for supercouple Tarlos to leave Austin and relocate to LAThe Penguin HBO I think the biggest surprise of the year was HBO39s riveting crime drama The Penguin which proved that DC can win at the same game Marvel perfected years ago producing theatrical movies and television shows that exist in the same narrative universe each one enhancing the other As we learned in the 2022 theatrical release The Batman this isn39t your parents39 Penguin A commanding Colin Farrell reprised his role from that movie as the title villain here but the real stunner was Cristin Milioti best known as the loving mom in the beloved CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as the sinister Sofia Falconeamp160amp160Adventures of Ghostie Instagram In general I don39t keep up with children39s programming That includes Bluey Sorry kidsamp160 But I am captivated by the short stopmotion animated adventures of the adorable Ghostie and his friends As his bio reads this social media gem is all about quotChronicling the adventures of a little ghost living in a pumpkin house and doing some very cozy thingsquot Seriously it39s relentlessly charming If I were a smart executive at a network or streaming service I would contact the creators of Ghostie pictured above and inquire about the rights Then I would build it into a hit children39s TV series or a series of inevitably popular seasonal specials and crank up the merch machineGhosts CBS Staying with the ghost thing CBS39 stunningly original comedy Ghosts didn39t skip a beat in its third season and its fourth is off to a fine start as well The characters continue to be developed as individuals and in various group dynamics I loved the first season but I thought the concept might get stale after a year or two Nope The cast seems to be having as much fun now as it did then It remains a pleasant consistently funny watch punctuated by moments of human drama that are profound but never overdone and it is always lifeaffirming even though most of its characters are deadSomebody Somewhere HBO This quietly profound dramedy wasn39t for everybody even though it spun stories out of universal challenges shared by everyone managing grief navigating friendships reconciling the past with the present while figuring out the future and once identified living an authentic life regardless of external influences Critics everywhere seemed to emotionally bond with the characters and their stories with many weeping over their keyboards when writing about the recent and perfect series finale Star and executive producer Bridget Everett was unforgettable as a middleage woman who returns to her hometown in Kansas to care for her dying sister remains there after she passes and keeps on carrying on amp8230 with unexpected results Now that Somebody has completed its run it39s going to make a great threeseason bingeThe Diplomat Netflix The television landscape is loaded with political thrillers but they don39t come better than this one Keri Russell as the title character and Rufus Sewell as her ambitious husband continued to pull no punches in season two while Allison Janney added fresh drama as steely Vice President Grace Penn who had an agenda of her own No spoilers here but season three promises to be another blastTo be continued Read Part One herePosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Ed Martin's Top 25 TV Programs of 2024 (Part Two)

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